The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-11-06


The dignifed professor was DR.. H. Carrnetou
Bolton, and his subject was THE Counting Out
Rhymes of Children" study in international
folk lore. DR. Bolton was formerly a professor
IN Trinity College, Hartford. He has just re-
turned from a tour in Europe. He explained to
the audience that these rhymes. which he had
picked up in twenty languages. were used by
children in their games to determine who should
have the most undesirable part. A leader re-
peated the doggerel rhyme, and the child
whom the last word fell was set free. Those re-
naming went through the same ordeal until
the last one remained, who was st" This 1T.
DR.. Bolton said. is a very polite expression in
in, Germany the one who is "it" is
called a wolf" instead of ST. in jap
anese." ''oui' ''little DEVIL" in Mala-
crazy one" Professor Bolton said he had col
lected counting out rhymes in twenty languages
civilized, half-civiiize3 and barbarous Among
anese, Arabic, Turkish, Malagasy. Bulgarian,
Armenian, Swedish Italian. Russian. Portu-
euese. Spanish and Basque The Bulgarian
children, he said were too pronounced for repe-
tition, but he recited examples in dozen lam
guages. In Dutch he had collected fourteen
counting-out rhymes In German 269, and in
scholars n all parts of the world. he had OBJ
tanned $50 counting rhymes. One OF the
most common jingles in all the languages was
the familiar:
zone, two. buckle my shoe;
Three. four. shut the door;
Five, six. pick up sticks;
'There is a fund of curious illusions in the
doegerel rhymes. y DR.. Bolton continued Here
is one picked up after the expedition Of the EN-
peror Napoleon into Russia
''The first lieutenant was SO neat.
He stopped in battle to wash his feet"
Another, which shows how ancient the pat
ter is:
..Nebuchadnezzar. the King of the Jews.
Slipped off his slippers and slipped on his shoes"
A modern instance. showing local coloring in
the United States. is:
There little rattesnake.
He too much of wedding cake and made his belly
ache
AS to the origin of all these children dogeer-
els, DR.. Bolton said he believed it descended
from remote antiquity. The ancients were
customed to cast lots in the most solemn acts of
life 1t considered an appeal to the
Almighty. In the middle ages casting lots
degraded to superstition. and charlatans used
unmeaning formulas to impose on the people,
pretending to cure disease and forecast the
future. In the well-known doggerel:
"Eckery. ackery. ukery an,
Oneery, twoery, etc.
The ''Eckeryn is Sanskrit for "onen It is
probable. Prof. Bolton said, "ackery" was orig
inally a word also There was only one corrupt
Latin verse that DR.. Bolton could remember 1t
Ia hoe domino quod,
Ducks foot plump in the mud.
1t is probable that the iingles that the children
now use in games were formerly written on
paper and hung around the necks of people in
the middle ages to keep off the plague or TO cure
hydrophobia, govt, and rheumatism. Children
nowadays however, are inclined to improve on
the old doggerel. DR.. Bolton had interviewed
a good many children in all languages, and
found it diffculs of understanding them Con-
sonants were not preserved. and vowels were OF
no account to the children. AS illustration of
his difficulty. DIR. Bolton this word on
the blackboard, "Phtholognyrrh." This was the
way man named Turner wrote his name and
when asked to Justify his spelling, he said:
''Phth" in phthistic is sounded ST." "olor in
colonel" is sounded ''ueh:" Ign" in "enaw" is
IN" and ''yrrh" in 'mvrrh" is sounded .'r..
DR.. Bolton gave this example of the manner
in which children change the rhymes. In the
Eastern States there is a jingle which runs as
follows:
John says to John. how much are your geesea
John to John, twenty cents apiece.
John to John, tina. is too dear;
John says to John, get out of here
On the Pacific coast this has been changed
to:
chin Chong Chinaman, how much are your geese?
Chin Ching Chinaman, twenty cents apiece ETC.
The latest discovery dug up by Dr. Bolton
was this:
"One. two, three four. five. six, seven
All good children to heaven.
All bad children go below
To keep company with Guiteau."